Friday, February 5, 2010

PRE-GAME: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Halifax Mooseheads

Visiting Team: Saint John Sea DogsRecord: 42-8-1-0 (1st in Atlantic Division)Last Game: 11-0 Win vs Val-d’Or on SaturdayLeading Scorer: Michael Kirkpatrick: 50 GP-21 G-44 A-65 PtsNHL Draft Picks: Yann Sauve (Vancouver), Marco Cousineau (Anaheim), Simon Despres (Pittsburgh), Steven Anthony (Vancouver), Mike Hoffman (Ottawa), and Nicholas Petersen (Pittsburgh).Notes: Saint John was named the number one team in the country for the third straight week on Wednesday. They are first in the Atlantic division and first overall in the QMJHL… Steven Anthony and Christian Morin are both “probable” to return to the Sea Dogs’ lineup tonight. The two both suffered concussions – Anthony last Friday and Morin two weeks ago in Quebec City… coming off an 11-0 blowout win over Val-d’Or last Saturday at Harbour Station… In their last three games, Saint John has outscored opponents 25-3 with goaltender Marco Cousineau picking up two shutouts… this is the first game of a two game road trip for Saint John. The Sea Dogs travel to Moncton on Saturday… 8-2-0-0 in their last 10 games and have won three straight… Saint John has scored the most goals of any team in the QMJHL with 239. They sit second in fewest goals against with 134… the power play has gotten ridiculasly better. They now sit fifth in the league with a rating of 23.6%... owners of the best road record in the QMJHL at 20-4-1-0 and are 2-0 at the Metro Centre this season. The Dogs are 8-2-0-0 in their last road games and are coming off an 8-0 win in Gatineau two weeks ago. They lead the league in goals for on the road with 112… Stanislav Galiev still leads rookies in scoring with 50 points in 5o games. He has 13 goals, 37 assists, and leads rookies with a +36 rating… five of the top 10 defenseman in +/- rating play for Saint John. That includes Nathan Beaulieu, who leads d-men with a +37… Nicholas Petersen is tied for first in goals scored on the road with 19 this season… Nicholas Petersen and Steven Anthony both have a team high six points (four goals and two assists) against Halifax this season… Pierre Durepos leads all Sea Dogs with a +8 against the Moose... Reigning QMJHL Offensive Player of the Month Mike Hoffman enters this weekend’s action on a ten-game point streak.

Home Team: Halifax MooseheadsRecord: 11-37-1-3 (6th in Atlantic Division)Last Game: 3-2 loss at Shawinigan on SaturdayLeading Scorer: Tomas Knotek: 45 GP-18 G-22 A-40 PtsNHL Draft Picks: Peter Delmas (Colorado)Notes: Sit last in the Atlantic division and last in the league overall... as of Thursday night, the Mooseheads were 13 points out of the last playoff spot held by Lewiston with 18 games remaining… the Moose have scored the fewest amount goals in the league this season with 128. That is 111 goals less than what Saint John has scored this season… 3-6-0-1 in their last 10 games and have lost their last two games… 8-16-1-2 at the Metro Centre this season. They are 2-7-0-1 in their last 10 games and have lost three straight… the Moose have upset the Sea Dogs once the year, a 4-2 win at Harbour Station back in December. They have also upset the Moncton Wildcats and Drummondville Voltigeurs… not one Moosehead player has a plus rating. Defenseman Jamie Bishop is the lone player to have a zero rating. Steve Gillard and Travis Randell are a team worst -30… Carl Gelinas has scored a team high two goals against Saint John this season… Alex Lemieux is a team best +1 vs Saint John while Jessyko Bernard and Garrett Clarke are a team worst -7… Mathieu Corbeil is expected to start in goal for the Moose tonight. He is 8-29 this season with a 3.65 GAA and a 0.885 save percentage… Gerard Grant took a puck in the eye on Wednesday during practice and did not practice on Thursday. He is questionable for tonight’s game.

News 88.9 will be picking up John Moore’s broadcast on News 95.7 in Halifax for tonight’s game. No information on Tim Roszell’s whereabouts have been given.

In July 1976, Halifax was uniquely honoured by the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip who participated in the ground-breaking ceremony of the Halifax Metro Centre. In the opening year, 1978, Halifax Metro Centre featured its very first concert, Gordon Lightfoot. That concert was followed by CIAU Basketball Championship. Within that first year the Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks faced off in NHL Exhibition games and became the permanent home of what is now the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo.

John Moore, voice of the Mooseheads on News 95.7, always has some good post-game content on his website at http://www.sportsandmoore.com/. He has lots of video’s posted on his site.

Insane stuff time: goaltender Marco Cousineau is on a highly-impressive streak of his own. Since switching from #31 to #79 during the third week of January, the Anaheim Ducks prospect is 4-0 with a 1.71 G.A.A.